We try to obliterate the memory of war victims but "we do so by dehumanizing the victims, which, in turn, dehumanizes the military forces which are the causes of pain and suffering" (Borhaug). Yet it is the policy makers, enabled by political leaders, who contribute to wrongful conflict and war, although everyone, to some degree, may be complicit. In order to atone for war's atrocities we need to face into the causes and deal with the results, which cannot be effaced or blotted out.
There are those who adopt a form of amnesia as a way of disconnecting from a sense of responsibility, and who insist that they are merely carrying out orders. But what if the persons in command are unable to fully comprehend the harm caused by their decisions, and are themselves suffering from cognitive or emotional dissociation?
A journalist at VOX Media recently wrote an article titled: "How Israel's War against Hamas has gone horribly wrong", stating that: "The truth is that this nightmare was depressingly predictable. When a dozen experts were surveyed about the war they warned that Israel had a dangerously loose understanding of what the war was about. [and its] conduct in the war so far has vindicated these fears. [having] dragged Israel down to a moral nadir" to an "an era-defining catastrophe".
Israel, at one time, represented qualities admired by small nations, but it has descended into a moral quagmire that is taking place at a time in history when the world has become a "Global Village" and where communication takes place almost instantaneously around the world. The present war in Gaza is a slow-motion tragedy being viewed throughout the world community via video imagery.
What is taking place is a calamity with enormous ramifications, Israel's pretense to being an exceptional nation is shown to be questionable, while Europe and America's pretense to upholding humanistic and humane values is shown as having very little value in these circumstances.
The only saving grace to the catastrophe taking place in Gaza are the dozens of peace groups within Israel and Palestine who continue to work toward a ceasefire and a permanent peace. Other groups, such as: "Jewish Voices for Peace" (JVP), with its tens of thousands of members demonstrating daily in peace marches and rallies in cities of America and Canada, hoping that the moral sensibilities in the heart and soul of Israel can be re-awakened.
Hugh Curran lives in Surry and teaches in Peace & Reconciliation Studies at the University of Maine
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